China warplanes tail U.S. and Japan fighter jets; How Far Will China Go?

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You'd have ask them, but I feel it's because of the potential for oil. The same reason that China has laid claim to islands that have been claimed for decades by the Philippines, Indonesia, and many others in the South Pacific.

It's a power grab for resources. The same thing that started the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 that lead to WWII.

not enough oil to sattisfy everyone... not enough land for people to live in...

An interesting side note: it just so happened that the Chinese have chosen to go ahead with sea trials of their first carrier, the Liaoning, that will be sailing through the East China Sea and into the South China Sea where they also have disputes with the Philippines over some islands.

It's an old Russian carrier they've been futzing with for years. They don't have any operational planes to fly from it.

“Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson.”-- Bernadine Dohrn

You'd have ask them, but I feel it's because of the potential for oil. The same reason that China has laid claim to islands that have been claimed for decades by the Philippines, Indonesia, and many others in the South Pacific.

It's a power grab for resources. The same thing that started the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 that lead to WWII.

Exactly, China is simply hedging its bets and seeing what it can get away with. Possession of the islands would allow for large extension of their maritime rights and any resources found therein... It also doesn't help that the Chinese are still pissed at the Japanese over the lack of a sufficient apology for its actions in the 30's and 40's.

"Truly I was born to be an example of misfortune, and a target at which the arrows of adversary are aimed"

The George Washington is also in the area, assisting with humanitarian efforts with the recent Philippine earthquake. I wonder if the US will attempt to show the flag in the area, and if the Chinese would (i believe inevitably) flex it's muscles with it's own aircraft carrier. Food for thought.

The USS Washington is more likely to break down again and limp back to Japan and wait another six months for a spare part.

So, is the OP wrong in saying "in its new maritime air defense zone", or is there a dispute over just where their air defense zone is?

It's quite a way from the USA.....

Just because a country lays claim to an area doesn't mean it's now theirs.

That is the problem.

They didn't have the right to claim it.

That area is the main transit area from Japan to Taiwan to Korea. The US and other countries have been transiting that area freely since WWII. Now, China says they have control over that area and we have to ask permission to transit that area.

They could have claimed the same for most of the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Panama and parts of the Eastern Pacific, since they now own the Panama Canal and there's oil there as well. Surely you wouldn't agree that they could do that as well?

A US EP-3 Aries II spy plane collides with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. The fighter crashes, killing the pilot; the EP-3 makes an emergency landing at a Chinese air base on China’s Hainan Island, a landing described as illegal by Chinese officials. 24 American crewmen—including three women and eight code-breakers—are taken into custody by the Chinese....

April 4-5, 2001: Powell Expresses ‘Regret’ Over US Spy Plane Crash

A day after Chinese president Jiang Zemin demands that the US apologize for the crash of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet that cost the life of the Chinese pilot (see March 31, 2001), Secretary of State Colin Powell expresses US “regret” over the death of pilot Wang Wei. The Pentagon claims that the crew of the American EP-3 managed to destroy much of the most sensitive surveillance equipment on the plane before it crash-landed on China’s Hainan Island, but, notes GlobalSecurity’s John Pike, “This airplane is basically just stuffed with electronics. Short of blowing up the airplane, there’s unavoidably a limit as to what they could destroy.” Chinese authorities say they will continue to detain the 24 crew members while they investigate the incident...

April 6-7, 2001: US, China Still in Dispute Over Spy Plane Collision and Crew Detention

Chinese and US authorities continue to mediate the dispute over the crash of a US spy plane in Chinese territory (see March 31, 2001 and April 4-5, 2001). John Warner (R-VA), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says the two sides are working on a written agreement on what happened, which would be approved by the leaders of both countries. Bush officials have been careful to call the detained US crew members “detainees”, but Senator Henry Hyde (R-IL) denounces the detention of the crew, calling them “hostages.” [CNN, 4/2001] Secretary of State Colin Powell is careful not to call the crew “hostages,” instead calling them “detainees[dq] who are being held [dq]incommunicado under circumstances which I don’t find acceptable.”....

April 8, 2001: US Refuses to Apologize for Collision of Spy Plane with Chinese Fighter

Negotiations and disputes over the collision and subsequent crash of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over Chinese waters continue (see March 31, 2001, April 4-5, 2001, and April 6-7, 2001). US officials warn long-term relations are at risk because of the dispute; Vice President Dick Cheney insists the US will not apologize over the incident. President Bush sends an unsigned letter to the wife of the slain Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, that expresses his “regret” over his death.....

The dispute between the US and China over the downed US spy plane over Chinese territory, and the subsequent detention of the crew by the Chinese (see March 31, 2001, April 4-5, 2001, April 6-7, 2001, and April 8, 2001), is resolved. Chinese officials approve the letter from US officials expressing regret over the incident, and early that morning, the crew members are released into American custody. [CNN, 4/2001] The plane, filled with secret US surveillance equipment, remains in Chinese custody; it will eventually be disassembled on Hainan Island by US crews and returned to American custody in July, 2001. [US Pacific Command, 7/2001] Defense expert Paul Beaver says China’s acquisition of even part of the surveillance equipment—whatever was not destroyed by the crew before the plane was boarded by Chinese troops—is an incalculable loss to the United States.....

It is not publicly revealed until 2006 that President Bush secretly engaged Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar to conduct the delicate negotiations with the Chinese over the US aircraft and crew. Bandar, a close friend of the Bush family and a senior Saudi official, is an unusual choice for the negotiations, but Bandar has a special relationship with the Chinese due to Saudi Arabia’s various deals to purchase arms and missiles, and the increasing reliance of China on Saudi oil. Bandar, never a modest man, considers it a personal favor from the Chinese to have them release the 24 American hostages. Bandar also oversees the wording of the American “apology” to the Chinese for the incident, where the US apologizes for entering Chinese airspace to make an emergency landing, but does not apologize for the E-3’s legitimate intelligence-gathering mission. Secretary of State Colin Powell, nominally in charge of the US negotiations, only finds out about Bandar’s efforts through the NSA’s monitoring of Bandar’s phone calls to the Chinese; when he calls Bandar to congratulate him on his success, Bandar snaps to the Secretary of State, “How the hell do you know?”....